Hi there!
There are 7-day one-way cruises between Vancouver (Canada) and Whittier (Alaska).
These are one of the best types of Alaska cruises because they usually include 2 glacier sea days. There is a Glacier Bay National Park sea day and one more glacier sea day (Hubbard Glacier or College Fjord).
If I must choose, I would do a cruise with Glacier Bay National Park and Hubbard Glacier, book the small boat Hubbard Glacier wilderness excursion through the cruise line if available, and then do a Whittier excursion to see the College Fjord glaciers. Look at the cruise lines of Princess, Holland America, and NCL.
Travel planning for Whittier cruise port
If your cruise is starting in Whittier, you’ll fly into Anchorage airport.
It’s always a good idea to arrive a day before your cruise starts because of potential flight delays.
Whittier is a very small town with very few accommodation options, so most people stay in Anchorage before their cruise.
So you can stay in Anchorage the night before, and then the morning of your cruise you can go to Whittier.
Also consider that if you’re flying from East Coast USA to Alaska, you have a 4-hour time difference. By arriving a day or 2 early, you can start to get used to the new time zone sooner and feel refreshed before your cruise!
I arrived 2 days early when I had my cruise from Whittier, so I stayed 2 nights in Anchorage. (Although I was coming from Europe so I wanted extra buffer time for sure!)
If your cruise ends in Whittier, you’ll go to Anchorage after your cruise to fly out of Anchorage airport.
I flew out of Anchorage a day after my cruise ended when I had my cruise to Whittier, so I stayed a night in Anchorage.
You must consider traveling Alaska by train as an extension of your cruise to or from Whittier! See more about the best Alaska train trips.
For flights, I like to compare prices at kayak.com and then book direct.
All things Whittier on the blog!
- Whittier cruise port map
- with where cruise ships dock + how to get to/from Anchorage
- Traveling between Whittier and Anchorage
- Alaska by train
- Ending a cruise in Whittier: How to get from Whittier cruise port to Anchorage
- Starting a cruise in Whittier: How to get from Anchorage to Whittier cruise port
- Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
- Things to do in Anchorage without a car
Whittier cruise transfers
Read the reviews at partner website Viator!
- After your cruise: Post-cruise transfer from Whittier to Anchorage tour (with wildlife stop)
- Before your cruise: Pre-cruise transfer from Anchorage to Whittier tour (with wildlife stop)
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- Best Whittier excursions
- Alaska cruise ports
- Choosing a cruise
Here are Anchorage hotels to consider
Read the reviews at partner websites!
- Hotel Captain Cook (hotel commonly recommended in cruise facebook groups)
- Comfort Suites Anchorage International Airport (if you just want a place near the airport to sleep before/after your flight)
- Hyatt Place Anchorage Midtown (if you want to stay a few days in Anchorage)
- Base Camp Anchorage Hostel (perfect for solo travelers if you’re just looking for a cheap place to sleep)
On the other end of your cruise, also see about Vancouver cruise port!
Read the homepage on the blog for the beginner’s guide to Alaska cruises!
Anchorage | Juneau | Ketchikan | Skagway | Vancouver
Read the reviews at travel partner websites!
Whittier cruise port transfer
- Pre-cruise: Anchorage to Whittier transfer
- Post-cruise: Whittier to Anchorage transfer
Very-Alaska experiences you must consider!
- When you're in Anchorage, you have a chance to see moose in Alaska by doing the Anchorage trolley tour! (Wildlife is wildlife however, and this is not guaranteed, but it's the cheap way to possibly have the best chance!)
- Another so-very-Anchorage experience you need to consider is biking the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. (Also a chance to see moose.) You can rent a bike and do it on your own, or you can do a guided biking tour. Read the bike tour reviews.
- Juneau is one of the best cruise ports for whale watching. (Icy Strait Point is the other.) Read the reviews of the best whale watching tours. You can do a dedicated whale watching tour (more time out on the water = more chances to have whale encounters!), or you can do a whale watching + Mendenhall Glacier combo tour so you can experience 2 of the most popular Juneau things to do in one tour.
- Ketchikan is known for the rainforest and totem poles! The rainforest and totem combo tour is one of the cheaper Ketchikan tours you can do! Ketchikan also has fun places to look for marine life like starfish! Read the reviews of the kayaking tour and the low tide excursion!
- Skagway is best known for being a former gateway town of the Klondike Gold Rush! (It was a gateway town for those making their way to the Yukon of Canada.) Along with the White Pass train, another one of the most popular ways to experience the Klondike Gold Rush is through a drive from town on the Klondike Highway to the Yukon! Read the reviews for the Yukon suspension bridge tour and the full day Yukon tour! Or keep it simple and cheap by doing just a part of the Klondike Highway through the Skagway city and summit tour. (Still very memorable, but one of the cheapest Skagway tours since it's shorter.)
More Alaska cruise travel planning tips you need to know!
Juneau | Ketchikan | Skagway | Icy Strait Point | Sitka | Victoria
Seattle | Vancouver
Whittier | Seward | Anchorage
👉 Best of Alaska
👉 Before you book
👉 PACKING LIST: waterproof shoes | rain jacket or poncho | puffer jacket | binoculars
Ketchikan broke a record for daily rainfall in May 2025! Juneau and Sitka had above average rainfall in April. So, if you plan to be outside a lot, you really might want to be prepared for the rain so you won't be miserable!
Things you might need for a day in Alaska on land or at sea!
Read the reviews on Amazon! I'm an Amazon Associate.*
- Rain poncho for a day out and about
- Review from cruise ship passenger: "Absolutely loved having these for our Alaska excursions from the cruise ship! Nice, lightweight, easily packable... easy to put on over our backpacks... Also, highly breathable vs the disposable plastic ones. Ours held up to the windy conditions too!..."
- Read the full review.
- merrell waterproof shoes for women (one of the best shoe brands for the outdoors)
- merrell shoes for men
- travel binoculars for wildlife viewing from the cruise ship!
- Packable lightweight puffer jacket (aka travel-friendly)
- For women: puffer jacket | for men: puffer jacket
- Water resistant hiking clothes for Alaska
- for women: hiking pants | for men: hiking pants
For more ideas, do a search for Alaska cruise clothes!
*I may earn a commission.
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Pinterest tip: Share the travel ideas you find on pinterest with your travel partners! Go to your Alaska cruise travel board, and look for the little + person icon! Or, you can go to "edit board" and "invite" your travel partners as a "collaborator"! This way you can all add pins to one shared board and you can all easily see what ideas others have found!